From the Ashes, a glee fanfic

Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Please forgive any spelling or grammar errors, I try to catch them all but I know I'm not always successful. So this story is a companion piece to my other story "Will of Fire". It's a quick look at what has happened to some of the Glee characters and how their lives progressed after Quinn's death in the car accident. A lot of it is exposition, but there is a little story there and it's all set against the backdrop of an annual reunion back in Lima. This is about 13 years after Quinn's death give or take a few months.

xXx-From the Ashes-xXx

The comforter was really living up to its name as Santana snuggled in a little closer to her wife. They were both cuddled up on their couch in the entertainment room and had fallen asleep together watching a movie. More surprising than anything was the fact that neither she nor Brittany had woken up during the night. Falling asleep on the couch sounded a lot more romantic than it actually was and the last time this had happened, Santana had gotten such a crick in her back that it had hurt to even walk. Brittany, somehow, seemed immune to such discomforts but Santana certainly wasn't. But this morning was different, this morning Santana couldn't recall a time she had been so comfortable and so content. It was nice to be able to just lay here with the love of her life and enjoy the silence, it wouldn't last long.

Santana's music career had them living out in L.A. Though, they had moved out here originally for Brittany's career. As a dancer, this was where she was consistently getting more job offers from, and so it was easier and made more sense to move out here. Santana had been sad to leave New York but after a bit of time and effort on her part she had gotten discovered and signed on to a record label. She had been successful, not Taylor Swift or Arianna Grande successful, but she had done well. Eventually Brittany moved on from just dancing to teaching it and had fallen in love with that. She now owned and ran a dance school with a couple of former partners which was doing pretty well. Meanwhile Santana had used her modest success as a singer to help her move into music production which was proving to be a lot more lucrative for her.

"What time is it?" Brittany asks sleepily, not bothering to open her eyes.

Santana's eyes find the clock on the DVD player, "Almost eight."

"So we've still got a few hours before we have to leave then." Brittany says with a content sigh, she pulls Santana a little closer.

"It'll be good to see everyone."

"Uh-huh, it's a shame we don't get together more often."

"Well, that's life for you. Everyone is so busy it's amazing that we can meet up as consistently as we do." Santana says with a shrug.

Brittany hums in the affirmative, but doesn't say anything. Instead, she begins to place kisses along Santana's neck and lets her hands begin to roam over her wife's body.

Santana groans, "Britt we can't… not here." Though she doesn't make any effort to physically stop her wife.

"Why?" Brittany whines playfully, "You're here, I'm here, it's quiet, and we're alone?"

Before Santana can answer there's the sound of the small pitter patter of feet in the room upstairs and above them. "That's why?" Santana chuckles.

Brittany grins into her wife's neck but does stop, moving instead to hold Santana's hands. "You know, I feel like our roles have reversed over the years. Since when do you care about getting caught?"

"Since traumatizing our babies isn't anywhere on my to-do list."

"You're my to-do list…" Brittany grumbles playfully.

"Mamma! Mami!" A happy and hyper little voice shouts out and both Brittany and Santana sit up in time for their four year old daughter to jump up on the couch and between them.

"Morning baby." Santana says, kissing her daughters forehead.

"Good morning Quinn, do you want some breakfast?" Brittany asks.

"Yes please!"

Quinn was Brittany's biological daughter and the Lopez-Pierce's eldest. She was a happy child with her mother's same blonde hair and blue eyes. And when she had first come into this world and they had taken one look at her, deciding on a name had been the easiest decision ever.

Quinn, after their best friend.

She had been killed in a car wreck a little over thirteen years ago. Quinn's death had hit them hard and they really missed her. Her life hadn't always been easy, the last two years especially had been difficult for her, but she had been turning things around when her life had been cut tragically short. Quinn had been named after their friend to both honor and remember her, but it was also a promise. To love and treasure those closest to them. Judy, who they had grown closer to and remained in close contact with, had tearfully approved, and was the first person to hold her after her mothers.

"You excited to see your Grandma Judy and Richard today?" Brittany asks, regretfully pulling away from the comfort of her wife.

"Yeah and Beth and Katie are going to be there too!" Quinn exclaims excitedly, she was completely enamored by the two older girls.

Brittany chuckles and glances back at Santana over her shoulder, sending a playful wink, while taking Quinn's hand and walking out of the entertainment room.

Santana smiles warmly as she watches the two most important women in her life head to the kitchen for breakfast. Once they're out of sight she gives one last stretch before getting up and heading upstairs. She walks to the nursery and picks up her newborn and the newest member of their family, Gabriel, the most important man in her life. "Hey, how's my guy?" She asks as she picks him up. He coos happily as she does so. "You hungry?" She asks, "We've got a busy day today, don't we?"

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

"Katie, time to get up!" Rachel calls upstairs. She should have been up an hour ago, but things just hadn't worked out that way, traveling never did. "We're going to miss our flight!"

"I'm already up!" Katie shouts back, her tone of voice hurried and the sound of her daughter scrambling around her mess of a room could be heard.

Rachel loved her daughter more than life itself, but she had definitely picked up a couple of her father's bad habits. His penchant for tardiness and making a mess being two of them. She also had his eyes and if the rate she was growing was any indication she would also have his height. She may not ever grow as tall as he was, but at 12 years old she was already taller than Rachel was.

"Is dad coming here or are we meeting him at the airport?" Katie asks, coming into the kitchen a few minutes later, pulling her dark brown hair up into a ponytail.

"We'll be meeting him at the airport."

"Is Sandra going to be there too?"

Rachel shakes her head as she begins to make them up a vegan protein shake for breakfast. "No, Sandra will be flying out tomorrow. She couldn't get anyone to cover her shift at the hospital today."

Sandra was her ex-husband Finn's new wife and Katie's new stepmom. She was a doctor and Rachel liked her, she and Finn were really good together and she was great with Katie. Katie liked her too, which was the most important thing, it was just a little weird for her now as they all navigated the shift in family dynamics after the two had married earlier this year.

She and Finn had married in high school during their senior year, a stupid mistake on their part, neither of them had been ready for it. It also hadn't helped that neither of them had been in a good place emotionally at the time, especially after the devastating news of Quinn's car accident and passing. To this day Rachel still blamed herself for it, though no one else did. But it had been her wedding that Quinn had been coming to. Her wedding that Quinn had opposed, but finally decided to support out of friendship. Her wedding to Finn that Quinn had been right about all along.

The one good thing to come out of her marriage to Finn was Katie. In a foolish rush of emotion, devastation, and teenage angst and surety, she and Finn had conceived Katie in the hopes of strengthening their already crumbling marriage and Rachel had graduated high school pregnant. Katie's birth while a blessing in its own way had only complicated matters and not even a year after her birth both she and Finn had separated and then eventually divorced.

The funny thing was, they actually grew closer after the divorce. Once they no longer had to worry about or fight over a marriage, they could both focus on Katie and themselves. And whatever flaws Rachel may have felt that Finn had, she knew he thought the same thing about her, Finn was a devoted father. And after the awkwardness of divorce, time had allowed her and Finn to become friends again.

Finn worked for the first couple of years out of high school at Burt Hummel's garage while she went to Ohio State while working as a waitress, having given up NYADA and New York for her child and marriage. She filled her thirst for theater and Broadway by doing local plays, and with Katie happy and healthy, it had been enough. One day she got lucky and a producer visiting family in the area had seen her in a play and recognized her talent. And like something out of a dream offered her an audition for a play he was working on in New York. After discussing it with her family and friends, she knew she couldn't pass this opportunity up and so she took it.

And Finn, to her everlasting gratitude, had dropped everything to follow Katie and her out to New York so that she could have this chance without having to worry about fighting him or separating Katie from her father. After working as a mechanic for other people, two years ago he finally opened up his own garage and was doing quite well for himself. Business was small but steady. Meanwhile Rachel had managed to achieve her own dreams. It seemed impossible at times and if had happened to anyone else she wouldn't have believed it, but six years ago she had finally earned her Tony award. Winning it had been the second best moment in her life.

It had been difficult time for her, brutal a more apt description, and if it weren't for her fathers supporting her and Katie at times, as well as Finn being willing to help, along with many others, it never would have happened. But with a lot of hard work and a little luck she had done it. After she had won her Tony she took a step back from Broadway and worked on things a little less time consuming. Commercials, local movies, the occasional TV spot, then three years ago she got another big break as one of the leads in an ensemble television series that was now in its third season. Rachel was blessed, and she knew it with all of her heart, and at times she couldn't help but wonder if maybe Quinn had pulled a couple of strings up above and helped her out a bit.

Despite their initially antagonistic relationship, no one had believed in her dreams as much as Quinn had. "You're the shiniest star of all of us." Quinn had once said. It was a little more fanciful a thought than aligned with Rachel's actual religious beliefs, Quinn pulling strings up in heaven, but no matter what was true, she hoped that the other girl was at peace and happy wherever it was she was. Whatever afterlife existed, heaven, or what have you, she hoped Quinn was happy.

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

"It's okay." Shelby hears Beth say over the phone and it takes everything she has not to growl in frustration. Beth was too forgiving at times in her opinion, which is not something she thought she would ever say or think.

….

"Things happen, I understand."

….

"It's okay, really, we'll meet up the next time you're in town. No worries."

….

"I love you too, drive safe." Beth says, hanging up the phone.

"He's not coming?" Shelby asks, walking into her daughter's room. It was filled with numerous trophies and certificates as well as pictures of Beth surrounded by various friends and family. Beth was growing up into a beautiful and intelligent young woman and Shelby was incredibly proud of her. She was a straight A student and was heavily involved in her school doing things like basketball, student government, and to Shelby's amusement, glee club.

"Nope, he says he has a job down in Louisiana but, you know, who really knows? With dad you take the good with the bad." Beth says with a shrug, too used to how her father was to just take him at his word or be really disappointed. And to be fair, sometimes he did have work. Sometimes he drove trucks, other times he worked construction, working whatever odd job fell his way really. Every time she talked to him he seemed to be doing something different.

"Are you finished packing?"

"Almost, just my laptop, and a few other odds and ends." Beth says with a smile, hiding her disappointment that her father wouldn't be joining them like he had promised.

Puck coming to the reunion was always iffy at best. He only made it about half the time, and when he did show up, he would often go off on his own and get drunk. Finn usually took it upon himself to look after his friend for old time's sake, and bear the brunt of it, but now that he had remarried, and with Katie getting older, Shelby wasn't sure how much Finn Hudson was willing to still put up with.

'A job in Louisiana,' Shelby scoffs internally. More likely he was drunk in some dive bar trying to get laid. Puck had never really grown up and getting him to commit to anything was usually more of an effort than it was worth. He usually tried harder with Beth, but that wasn't really saying much in Shelby's opinion. It wasn't her responsibility to look after him or anything, and she certainly didn't have any interest in doing so, but he was a figure in her daughter's life so she had to be involved in some way. Though in all honesty she did her best to stay away from the whole Puckerman clan in general.

Who knew, or cared, where Puck's father was and Puck's mother was a whole mess of issues as well. The one exception to the Puckerman's was Puck's sister Ruth. She was a bit odd, but considering her childhood that wasn't surprising. More importantly though she was a genuinely good person and she had her life together. She taught English overseas and was currently living in Hong Kong. They didn't get to see her very often, but they kept in touch via Facebook and she called Beth occasionally, and it was always nice for Shelby that Beth got to see a good example on her father's side.

Initially, when she had first given Noah the chance to be in Beth's life he had stepped up. He worked hard to prove that he was more than just some young punk, but after Quinn had died in that car accident, something inside him seemed to break and he fell into some bad habits. When he had shown up at her apartment drunk one night she kicked him out and had quickly cut off any contact he was allowed. She wouldn't have the sort of things he got up to anywhere near her daughter. But when Beth had turned ten she had asked about him and her birth mother, and after begging and pleading on Beth's part she allowed her to contact him.

As for getting to know her birth mother, initially Shelby had been at a bit of a loss about what to do. She told her daughter about what happened and answered what few questions she could about the young woman who had passed away. But it hadn't been much and it certainly hadn't been enough for Beth and so she had asked if any of her birth mother's relatives were still around. It hadn't been too difficult to track down Quinn's mother and the meeting between Beth and her maternal grandmother is something that Shelby would remember forever.

The absolute joy on the older woman's face as she got to meet the child of the daughter she had lost had been equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. Judy's interactions with Beth were everything she had hoped for when she imagined Beth meeting her biological family. It put her mind at ease to know that there were people out there who loved her daughter as much as she did. Through Judy, Beth got to know Brittany and Santana, and through the three of them, Beth got to know her birth mother.

This also had the added effect of allowing Shelby another chance to get to know Rachel. Rachel was good friends with Brittany and Santana and by extension Judy, it was slow going between her and Rachel and things would probably never be fully okay between them but it was a start and both of them were willing to put in the work to make it work between them. She would never get to be Rachel's mother, she had foolishly and selfishly thrown that chance away all those years ago, but hopefully one day she could be Rachel's friend.

"Alright, I'm ready to go." Beth says, slinging her bag over her shoulder and picking up her suitcase.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Shelby asks, worried for her daughter.

Beth smiles a real smile, "Of course, I can't wait to see everyone."

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

Richard Williams stretched as he got out of bed, being careful to keep the noise down so he didn't wake his wife. Today was a big day for Judy, once a year all of her late daughter's friends came to town and visited, some kind of club reunion thing. They all visited sporadically throughout the year as much as time and circumstances would allow but this visit was a sure thing and it happened every year without fail. It was always great to see his wife surrounded by people who loved her, and he himself was quite fond of most of the people as well.

Santana and Brittany were two wonderful young women and their little Quinn was the sweetest little girl in the world, and joining them this year was their newborn baby boy, Gabriel. The Lopez-Pierces were living proof that family didn't necessarily mean blood.

Shelby and Beth also stayed with them as well. Shelby was a good woman and he was grateful that she allowed Beth and Judy the chance to meet and get to know each other. And Beth was an incredible young woman with a bright future ahead of her, and seeing her and his Judy together never failed to make him smile.

Then of course Rachel and Katie visited quite often during this time. They didn't stay with them of course, staying with Rachel's fathers instead or with the Hummel's. But while they visited they saw quite a bit of the two of them, because Rachel was friends with Santana and Brittany, as well as Shelby's biological daughter.

Judy's family tree was… complicated to say the least. He loved this time of year though, especially for how happy it made his Judy. But it was also stressful for her as she worried about everyone while they traveled and that everyone was comfortable while here. It made her anxious, it was so very important to her that the people who stayed with them were happy and comfortable while they were here.

Her first marriage had ended in disaster. She had told him the story of course, how they had kicked Quinn out of the house, how Russell had cheated on her and the subsequent divorce and effort to reconnect with her youngest daughter. He had only met the man once, and that was more than enough for him. Just the thought of how he had treated his sweet Judy made his blood boil. The fact that she had made a life for herself after him was something he was incredibly proud of. He knew men like Russell, they were toxic and they wormed their way into your mind if you let them. Part of Judy's life after that man was the eclectic family she had created with the people coming today.

And so he got up to give the house one more, quick, spot clean, and to make sure they had enough food and towels and blankets. Little stuff that they obviously had covered, but that made his wife worry. Today was a day for her to be with her family, so it was his job to make it so she could focus on that instead of worrying about all the little details.

Judy and he had first met at the grief counselling center that they both went to. They saw different councilors but both practiced in the same building for the same organization. He had just lost his wife to cancer and he hadn't been dealing with it very well so his eldest daughter had begged him to go to counselling. He had eventually agreed, more for her sake than anything, though he would be the first to admit that over time it helped. While he was there Judy was as well, trying to deal with and come to terms with the loss of her daughter.

They got to talking in the lobby while they waited for their appointments, and this happened more than a few times until they were friendly acquaintances, but it never progressed beyond that. Eventually they both stopped going and didn't cross each other's minds again, they were each just the friendly stranger to the other who could sort of understand their grief. Then five years ago they bumped into each other at the supermarket and got to talking and catching up. He asked her out to coffee and she agreed and it progressed from there. After dating for about a year and half he asked her to marry him and the rest as they say was history.

It was as he was finishing preparing the room that Beth would be staying in that Judy had finally woken up and found him. "What are you doing up?" She asks as she goes to the other side of the bed to help him finish making it.

"Today's the big day, I thought I'd get a head start." He says with a smile.

Judy sighs softly and smiles at him warmly, knowing full well that he was up and about at this early hour for her sake. "Thank you."

Richard goes over to his wife and wraps his arms around her. He places a kiss on her cheek and says, "I love you."

Some wounds never healed no matter how much time passed, but Judy had found that with time you grew stronger and better able to handle the pain. And a big part of doing that was surrounding yourself with people who loved you and lifted you up. Friends, family, new love, life was about taking it on one day at a time. Not a day passed where she didn't think of her daughter, but she had to remind herself that her Quinn was in a better place and that it was okay to live.

"I love you too."

xXx-Author's Note-xXx

So this was just a quick glimpse into the lives of some of Quinn's friends and family in the Glee-verse. I may add to this story down the road, just fill in some things in people's daily lives, but it's just as likely that this is it. I'll add to it if and when the inspiration strikes. As for its connection to "Will of Fire", eventually the characters in here will play a larger role in that story, but we're a ways off from that happening. For those of you who may happen to read this without having first read "Will of Fire" feel free to check it out or ignore it at your leisure. It's an odd little story but I'm having a lot of fun writing it, but considering the crossover aspect of it I know it's not everyone's cup of tea.